“This is the roadmap out of climate crisis that Canadians have been waiting for. Serious, specific and madly inspiring.” — Naomi Klein, activist and author of This Changes Everything

“Read this inspiring book to realize giving up is not an option and ‘can’t be done’ is not an excuse.” — David Suzuki, scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster

“This is the blueprint for rapid societal transformation that we’ve all been waiting for.” — Ziya Tong, science broadcaster and author of The Reality Bubble

The world has just ten years to at least halve our greenhouse gas emissions if we are to have a hope of holding global warming to a 1.5°C increase. Currently, Canada is not on a path to meet its greenhouse gas reduction targets, and radical systemic change to the way we live and work must happen at high speed, but how are we ever to do this?

We can do it. We’ve actually done it before. During the Second World War, Canadians and their governments completely remade the economy — retooling factories, transforming the workforce and creating common cause among Canadians for the war effort.

In A Good War, author and activist Seth Klein looks at the Second World War strategies and shows how they can be repurposed today for a rapid transition. He demonstrates that this change can create jobs and reduce inequality while tackling our climate obligations and shows us a bold, practical policy plan for a zero-carbon Canada. In this unusually hopeful book, Klein explores how we can align our politics and economy with what the science says we must do. Inspiring and realizable, his book is an invitation to both the public and our political leaders to reflect on the people who saw us through the war, and to consider who we want to be, as we face down the defining task of our lives.

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has brought change upon our world that would have been unthinkable a few months ago, change very like what Klein has proposed. It turns out the world can turn on a dime if necessary. The blueprint is in your hands.

“The COVID-19 crisis and Seth Klein’s timely book demonstrate heroic measures that become possible in times of crisis. The coronavirus crisis is not yet assessable by historians. World War II presented the West with an existential crisis for which government institutions, corporations and civil society were utterly unprepared. Yet in astonishingly rapid order, society, government and industry were united in resolve and enabled unprecedented government action and leadership. Read this inspiring book to realize giving up is not an option and ‘can’t be done’ is not an excuse.” — David Suzuki
“One of the great privileges of my life is having Seth Klein as a brother. Here you will see why. This is the roadmap out of climate crisis that Canadians have been waiting for. Serious, specific and madly inspiring, A Good War will fill you with the confidence and courage required to fight like hell for the future we all deserve.” — Naomi Klein, activist, journalist and author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine
“Seth Klein’s critically important book tells the climate truth: our climate emergency needs a WW2-style mobilization. In this strategic call to action we learn about Canada’s impressive war production, and how we can join the war against climate devastation. Your children’s futures are on every page. Read, organize, act!” — Raffi Cavoukian, singer, author and founder of Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring
“This is an important book, exactly what we need right now. Seth does more than set out the urgency of our climate challenge, he draws a careful study of Canada’s extraordinary and rapid transformation during WW2 to give us a battle plan to address it. Big change is possible, he reminds us. We have done it before. Seth’s book combines urgency and optimism, ambition and clear-eyed understanding of the obstacles to change. It should become an essential resource for policy makers but also for all of us who want to be part of the solution. It is also an excellent and inspiring read.” — Alex Himelfarb, former clerk of the Privy Council and professor of sociology
“Pacifists are not known for evoking war-like rhetoric, so it is one of life’s quirks that I first met an 18-year-old Seth Klein as he toured Canada calling for nuclear disarmament. But, like me, he sees that the only way for human civilization to survive the climate emergency is through an ‘all hands on deck’ approach that has only been seen in times of war — or recently in pandemic. Saving ourselves is a huge challenge. Marshaling the facts, the hope and the path forward is essential work for which writer and policy wonk Seth Klein is ideally suited.” — Elizabeth May, MP and former leader of the Green Party of Canada